Vital GEO Graphics

D ownload G raphic 2

Gross domestic product – purchasing power parity per capita

40 thousand US$

1987 2004

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

Source: GEO Data Portal, compiled from World Bank 2006b

0

Africa

Asia and the Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

North America

Natural Resource Use and Growth and Development

Global economic growth has been spectacular during the last two decades. Gross domestic product per capita (at purchasing power par- ity) increased by almost 1.7 per cent annually. Population and economic growth, and contem- porary consumption and production patterns fuel increased demand for natural resources and place increasing pressure on the environment. The wealthier the society, the more resources it tends to use and the more waste it generates. However, long-term development can only be achieved through sustainable management of various assets: financial, material, human, social and natural. Serious and persistent barriers to sustainable development remain as environmental degradation is undermining development and threatens future development progress. In developed countries, the goods-and-services that cause the highest environmental impacts through their life cycles have been identified as housing, food and mobility. The dominant stage with respect to impacts differs significantly be- tween different goods-and-services. For food and beverages, the majority of environmental impacts are related to agricultural or industrial production

activities, while for personal transport the majority of the impacts are in the use phase, when driv- ing in a car or flying in an aircraft. In general, patterns of consumption are changing, with the food component decreasing and the shares for transport, communication, housing, recreation and health care on the rise.

57 RESOURCE E F F I C I ENCY